OSWEGO, NY – Each year WCNY-TV hosts a high school academic quiz show “Double Down†and once again Oswego High School is represented on the roster of 32 schools vying for honors.
Recently, OHS seniors Richard Mandanas, Sarah Miller and Jill Doty traveled to the Liverpool based television studio to participate in the first round of competition against Nottingham High School. Last year Nottingham was a semifinalist and hopes to repeat its effort in 2009.
Superintendent of Schools Bill Crist noted, “I am very proud of how these students are representing our high school, our district and community. The ‘Double Down’ program provides a unique educational opportunity for academic competition and is a wonderful experience for our students. I also want to thank Bill Foley for providing direction and leadership for this worthwhile student competition.â€Â
“Double Down†has several goals including spotlighting area high school students who are academic achievers, attract younger viewers to public television and establish an educational and fun television viding option for families in Central New York.
High School Assistant Principal Brian Hartwell helped organize the team and said, “Our students have approached this endeavor with great enthusiasm.”
Students arrived at the studio about an hour before the actual production.
They met with WCNY officials and host Bill Baker to go over rules.
However, the time also allowed Baker to learn more about each student in regards to favorite subjects and activities.
When it was time to record the students were brought into the studio, lights were brought up, microphones attached and they were ready to go.
District Clerk Foley, who helped coordinate the effort with WCNY and accompanied the students, said, “Excitement was high among the students. They were a bit nervous, but confident. On the bus enroute to Liverpool they had talked about strategy, how to answer questions, what to say and what not to say. Their efforts were notable as they did not give up and were determined to do their best in representing their high school and community.â€Â
The “Double Down†program pairing Oswego against Nottingham will be aired Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. and will be posted online the following day on the WCNY site.
The program is a half hour weekly game show for teams of high school students from WCNY’s 19 county viewing area. According to Nick Bennett, coordinator for the program, “The show is media and technology rich, fast paced and fun.â€Â
This year the program has several categories which challenge the students.
Bennett noted, “The questions are intended to be educational, interesting, and fun.â€Â
The categories include English-Language Arts, History-Geography, Science, Math, Arts, Current Events and Sports.
The “Double Down†program features three segments of varying lengths.
The first segment is designed to make players more comfortable on television and enable teams to accumulate points with one on one question.
The first round includes 20 questions with each question worth 10 points. Questions are for individual players only and alternate back and forth between participating teams.
The second round allows teams rather than individuals to answers questions and wager points.
Each question is worth 20 points and if a team answers correctly it can â€ÂDouble Down†to possibly increase the point total.
The third and final segment provides a single question that determines the winner.
This is a single elimination program and the champion will advance through four rounds.
The three Oswego High School seniors represented their school and community proudly and their noteworthy effort provided an exciting broadcast.
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